Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Realizing what its going to take

So, I am preparing to take my DD10 out of private school and homeschool next year for 7th grade. We were debating going back on our grade skip in the process also and keeping her at 6th, BUT I started to ask questions because we need to start thinking about high school if we decide to keep 7th grade. WELL, I called the good private school we were thinking about and quickly discovered they were not going to be flexible and it would not work. I was told that even if she took Geometry before her freshmen year, she would have to take it again because that is the highest they would let her go. I also have discovered a state law that I will have to get special permissions to work around which is that a student cannot be in a class with kids more than 2 yrs older than them. I started to panic but then had a conversation with someone associated with a Gifted Advocacy Group, looked up some information on the state website and local college websites and have a little bit of hope but now realize just how much maneuvering it is going to take to get my daughter an appropriate education. I have also figured out that the best way to keep my daughter home until she is 18 might be to keep the grade skip (she will graduate at 16), maneuver to have her dual enroll after her sophomore year and perhaps finish with almost 2 yrs of actual college credit, and have her finish at a local college ( one of which is top 50) if it all works out. She could then graduate at 18 but from undergraduate. I am exhausted thinking about it.

Some may say it's time to contact your local legislator about changing this law. For example, if a student had early-entrance or was grade accelerated, that student is one year younger than most. With another full-grade skip or even a single subject acceleration, that student might easily have a few classmates who are more than 2 years older. If a new student moves into the area and is red-shirted or has been retained in a grade, that student is one year older than most, but two years older than the accelerated student.

This form of ageism does not serve the gifted student well, but creates exclusion from what may be the best fit in an academic setting or learning environment.

Students are routinely in extracurricular activities with others who may be more than 2 years older, especially when classes are based on ability. For example, leveled swimming lessons.

So sorry you're going through this. I laughed (bitterly) when I read about the private school -- our local (expensive) ones are just the same. "Great academics," "so selective," etc. But the reality is that they pitch each course about one grade above grade-level courses in the public schools, and they have very rigid and limited curricula and will not permit kids to learn at a higher level than the group. This dynamic -- not permitting acceleration -- actually seems a bit worse in the private schools, IME, because they don't dare admit that any of the kids are brighter than the others, since all the parents pay the same exhorbitant rates.

Rant over! :-)

On the two-years-ahead law, I had a question: is it that she can't be promoted to a GRADE with kids more than two years older or cannot sit in a CLASSROOM with kids more than two years older? If the former, you could keep her in her chronological grade (or skip her two years) but teach her whatever you want. That seems to be your idea with the dual enrollment, and that seems just right. My dc will be a chronological 9th grader next year but will take AP classes, 11th grade English (just to relax and not push) and so on. (This is in homeschool, though, not a public school, but we shadow standard curricula in public and private schools.) He will top out of high-school-level offerings by the beginning of his junior year (at least in humanities), but at that point, he can take college classes through a local (good) college.

Good luck -- this IS daunting. We switched to homeschool at age 10 too, and I've been continually amazed at how difficult it is to find a school fit.

I have to check the law exactly. I'm not sure. I think it's in the same classroom. My guess is the intent of the law has more to do with keeping 19yr olds out of the classroom with 15-16yr olds. I was told that I could file for an exception with the state. We will see.

For now, we are going to keep the grade skip in place and teach her as we see fit. Language/Writing is her weak spot and I think she is maxed out there (and still an A student) with the grade skip, which is why dual enrollment is so important for us. She can progress in Math/Science and other non-paperwriting prerequisites while still taking High School English. I thought she had to be 16, which wouldn't help us because she will be 16 when she graduates but I just found out that it is university dependent, one says "high school age" and the other says "after completion of the sophomore year".

Since we're in the same state, I'd greatly appreciate it if you could share the code of the statute in question. My search hasn't turned up anything relevant, though it did turn up some interesting factoids... did you know you have to be 17 to attend a barber college?

Dude, I sent you a PM. I found the statute and ... you know, those barber shop clippers can be a dangerous weapon. We must make sure that those who wield them are sufficiently mature.

Update:

I have spoken with various individuals and discovered
1)it is possible to get the 3-yrs age difference limitation in the same classroom waived. 2)the dual enrollment standards are set by the Universities. There are two good university options that we can choose from that are not limited by age.
3)In certain subjects, there are required state proficiency tests. I was told to keep good records reflecting that she is covering everything in the state standards and then have her take the state proficiency test for that subject to get credit.

Right now, I am feeling hopeful and very glad that I am asking these questions and preparing now.

I hit a blip. Turns out the proficiency tests can't be taken until the child is a student at the high school. So, she will have to wait until she is already a student in 9th grade before taking a proficiency test for a subject taken in 7th grade. I think it shouldn't be a problem for math but would definitely be a problem for Biology. So, I think we are going to stick with Physical Science for 7th and maybe focus on the math and maybe something like high school level foreign language or American Government.